Horse shoe TRICEPS

Every muscle builder wants that big horseshoe (upside down U shape) shape in the top of their triceps. If you've got the muscle mass, you can achive the horseshoe look by doing 2 tricep exercise supersets, twice a week. These tricep exercises are designed to work your triceps to TOTAL failure. When training your triceps, less is more. Give it 200% for 2 supersets and you'll build solid tricep muscle.

The main target area of the tricep muscle is going to be the middle (or lateral) head. This is the largest tricep head and makes up most of the back/upper region of your triceps. If worked correctly this tricep head really beefs up and gives you that horseshoe look.

Superset 1: Tricep dips/tricep press downs

Tricep dips target the rear meaty head of the triceps and are really good for add pure size to your triceps. And you are also lifting your bodyweight which allows for heavier reps and a natural range of motion. You want to focus these dips on your tricep so don't lean too far forward. Leaning forward will focus the exercise more on your chest. Weighted dips should be your ultimate goal, but you should be able to do at least 3 clean sets of 10 on your bodyweight before you add weight.

Tricep press downs are a great isolation exercise to hit the middle head of the tricep muscle. Strict form is a must, keep your elbows tucked into your sides and don't let the cable go higher than parallel to the floor. Keep the "squeeze" in your triceps for the whole set.

Do 10 reps of tricep dips, straight away followed by 6 reps of tricep press downs and repeat 3 times


Superset 2: Skullcrushers (lying tricep extension)/dumbell kickbacks

Like dips, the angle of skullcrushers really hits the middle head of the triceps. Form is the key here. You need to need to make sure of 2 things. First that you are not pushing the bar straight up. You should be pushing at an angle behind your head to focus the work on the triceps and not the shoulders. Second, you need to keep your elbows tucked in tight and pointing towards your feet. The angle of your elbows means the difference between your triceps getting isolated and worked hard or your triceps getting a little bit of a workout.

And finally tricep kickbacks to really finish off your lateral head! It's difficult for most people to do heavy tricep kickback reps so we're going to focus on form and the 10 rep range. You must keep your elbow high throughout that whole set and DO NOT move it! You should be rotating at the elbow, there is no need to move the upper arm or shoulder. User a moderate to high weight for 10 reps.

So do 10 reps of skullcrushers, directly followed by 10 reps of kickbacks and repeat 3 times.



Week 1: 6-8 reps 4 sets- Muscle Mass
Week 2: 12-15 reps 3-4 sets - Definition
Week 3: 1-3 reps 5 sets - Power
Week 4: 8-10 reps

Notes: Body fat & tricep workout rotation

There is no way you will build that solid tricep horseshoe look if you have too much body fat. If you have big tricep muscle and a little too much fat, try to decrease your body fat before you try this workout. You may develop big, horseshoe triceps but they will be covered in a layer of fat making them invisible!

Another point worth mentioning is that you should rotate your tricep workouts at least once every 6 weeks. If you stick to a workout for too long your muscle will get used to it and you wont achieve any gains. You can find some tricep workouts on our workout page.